Delicious

Dinners

And

Christmas

Celebrations!

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We sure had a yummy Thanksgiving & fun-filled Christmas season! (The day after Thanksgiving wasn't so great, but we had a lot to be thankful for!) All of the family gathered together at Grammy & Granddeddy's house for Thanksgiving dinner, and I ate so much I almost popped! Also, Lydia gobbled down her very first jar of baby food -- something green & squishy. She liked it a lot! We played all day with Kayden, Trapp, & Jessica, until we were all tuckered out. I am always so glad that Gramps, Granny, & Gee-Gee come for all of the festivities, too!

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Well, between Thanksgiving & Christmas, we got to do something sort of fun -- shop for a new car! Mom wasn't real excited about getting a minivan, but I sure was! I love riding in the big church van with Dee-Da, and our van is just as great! It sure came in handy over the holidays when we had to load up all of our stuff for family visits. Mom can open the doors with her special keychain, I have my own arm rests, the windows are nice & big for good views, and there's plenty of room for stretching out during those emergency diaper changes. I'm almost potty-trained, though! I totally have the #1 routine down, but I'm not quite ready to do the #2. It's a little weird to do that in the open air.

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Christmas was wonderful, as usual, and this year it was extra-special because it was baby Lydia's first Christmas! I showed her the ornaments on the Christmas trees, I helped her sit on Santa's lap, and I even let her open her own presents. I also explained to her that Christmas is not about trees or presents, but about the birth of Jesus! We even got to be in a Christmas pageant at church telling all about the nativity story. Lydia was a lamb and I was a shepherd. I tried to sing the songs, but I was having too much fun throwing straw on my friend, Reagan.

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There was something else really neat that happened this Christmas -- we found Gramp's cat, Butterscotch! We all thought Butterscotch had wandered off to the place where old kitties go, so Mom was going to get Gramps & Granny a new cat for Christmas. Well, while she was looking at available pets up for adoption on the computer, she found a picture of Butterscotch at one of the shelters in Winston! To make a very long story a lot shorter, Gramps was really surprised when Mom carried Butterscotch through the door with a big red bow around his neck! He's still perking back up to his old self, and we're all glad to have him home. We know God was watching out for that Christmas kitty!

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Love,

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Levi